GAETANO CASTELLI

SDM: You have been doing this job for many years, what has changed the most over time? not only from the point of view of technology, from the human point of view? what for better and for worse?

GC: In recent years, the excessive use of LED technology has led to a progressive reduction of the scenographic construction. We are therefore losing a good part of our tradition on a professional and human level. The craftsmanship, the painting and sculpture workshops handed down from father to son, the pictorial and artistic techniques that have made us famous in the world, are gradually disappearing and this is certainly not good. We are homologating too much the work of television set design, thus losing our uniqueness.

SDM: In the last two years, due to the pandemic, the way of doing events has changed, do you like this new way of communicating? do you think we can replace live with virtual sets and performances? How do you see the future?

GC: Live shows are fundamental and not replaceable. The virtual can always be a part of the show but not all.

SDM: What in your career gave you the greatest satisfaction? What would change?

GC: The greatest satisfactions for me came from the great Varieties (Fantastico, Rockpolitik, Al Paradise...), from the Sanremo Festival but also from the French magazines Lido and Moulin Rouge. Teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome was also a great passion. I would not change anything of the path taken. Everything was useful to me even the difficult or less beautiful parts.

SDM: What the italian culture influences your work and you the most?

GC: The art of seventrenth century is the one that most influences us: Caravaggio, Bernini, Borromini.

SDM: What imprint would you give if you were chosen for the scenography of Eurovision 22?

GC: We would try to start from our tradition, from our design in terms of the study of form, a reworking of the dome of the Pantheon for example, redefined with an organic form, a volumetric structure and profiled by various motorizations of lights and scenoluminous apparatuses in order to adapt the stage to the different nations, a contribution of virtual reality and video.